Judge OKs Countrywide breach settlement

A U.S. District Court judge in Kentucky this week granted final approval to settle a class-action lawsuit relating to a data breach that pinned millions of Countrywide Financial customers against the mortgage company. The agreement provides free credit monitoring for up to 17 million people whose personal data was exposed, according to reports. To be eligible, victims must have used Countrywide, now owned by Bank of America, before July 1, 2008. In addition, participants are eligible to receive up to $50,000 per incident of identity theft, though Countrywide representatives have denied that anyone fell victim to fraud. — DK